Lime Spray truck.....if you have good dirt roads to your plots that a tank truck can navigate they can spray the lime in a slurry and do the job cheaper, faster, and better than you can....it takes a lot of lime where our camp is....you should probably have your soil tested and/or talk to some of the locals or your guy at the local feed store and see what the typical lime requirements are for your area. If your PH isnt right the fertilizer won't be utilized nearly as well by the plot. Anyhow, you will need to disc, and then if your field isnt rutted up too bad you can go behind and throw the seed, then the fertilizer, then either redisc very lightly (just barely touching) or use a drag of some kind like a piece of chain link fence attached to a bar to lightly cover the seed. Then pray for some rain. At this point if you are ready to plant and you determine you need lime, you should probably just go with the granular lime which you can throw from a spreader just like fertilizer.....its more expensive but much easier to handle than powdered lime. Powdered lime wont work in a typical 3 point hitch spreader that you run from a tractor PTO. A lot of folks say you have to put the lime in weeks before the planting and that is probably true, but I have done it all at the same time I seed and it does ok. If you find out your soil needs quite a bit of lime, I would check into the lime truck and have it done just before you plant your fall plots....
If you are planting around pine trees, you are gonna need a BUNCH of lime. Guaranteed. to get any of the seed mixes to grow properly. Trust me from experience. If the soil is acidic, you can get the best seed mixes and they just wont make it.
Iron clay peas will grow without prepping the soil. But you would be better off prepping the soil now and planting a Great fall plot. as opposed to planting a half azz spring plot. Plus the deer will mow a small plot of peas down in a matter of a few days
Lime takes a minimum of 6 months to work. You can get the powdered lime, but it still takes a few months
Actually, the amount of time varies greatly, from a few weeks to a year, depending on the type of soil, the type of lime used, the amount of water received, the existing PH, the application method, etc. etc.
BUT...as I stated previously, based upon my experience with many first time food plots in areas not previously limed, you can apply it when you plant, and it will definitely help.....perhaps not as much as if you had limed beforehand, but better than nothing.....since it sounds as if you are wanting to put in some type of plot now....
Grab you a PH test and then go from there. Actually, you can spread the powdered lime from a spreader but it's a pain if it gets wet or the air is humid. We normally use regular lime and give it 6-7 months to work before planting. Like iluv2hunt said, if there's pines near there you will probably need a bunch of lime.
